A Promise to Keep
by HeroxPartnerfan96
Summary: Two best friends since childhood are separated by fate, but bound by a promise ring. Years later, they meet again. He remembers her, but she doesn't recognize him, even though she still has the ring. What will happen next? Advanceshipping (Will be remade 2018)


**A Promise to Keep**

 **Chapter 1: Ash's Promise**

"Come on, Ash! Catch me if you can!" A small five year old girl turned her glance and happily waved to her best friend with a cheerful smile. The girl had bright blue eyes, dark brown hair that hung down in two pigtail-like sections and she was wearing a puff-sleeved pink dress with a small white collar at the front, short white leggings and matching small pink shoes: her name was May Maple. She then let out a cheerful laugh as the person, a six year old boy who was chasing after her, quickly caught up before she started to rush off again.

"Wait up, May! I'm going to catch you!" The young boy cheerfully replied as he followed after May; it was Ash Ketchum. He had short black hair that was spiked in different places, black eyes that hid a chocolate brown tint and he was wearing a sleeveless yellow t-shirt that had a big bright red stripe running down the middle along with dark blue shorts and red sneakers that had a black patch at the end. The two were playing a game of tag in the field of Pallet Town just outside their house; they had been best friends ever since they were babies and they always spent time together. As May poked her head out from a tree she was hiding behind to see if she could spot Ash, she felt someone tap her on her shoulder and turned around to see Ash standing right behind her. "I found you! Now you have to catch me!" Ash commented, showing a big smile before he rushed out to the field again.

May watched in silence before she showed a bright smile. "We'll see about that, won't we? You get back here, Ash!" she called before she started to run after Ash. After a few seconds of running, May tackled Ash and the two landed on the grass, both of them looking at each other. "I got you!" May cheered, as she stood upright while Ash sat up on the grass. The two then brightly smiled at each other before happily laughing in unison; they always enjoyed playing games and having fun together.

While this was happening, inside the Ketchum house, two women were sitting at the kitchen table and they were both looking out the window to see Ash and May together and the two both showed bright smiles; they were Ash and May's mothers, Delia Ketchum and Caroline Maple respectively. After a few seconds, the two turned their glances to each other. "Look at them. They really enjoy playing together, don't they?" Caroline asked. Delia happily nodded in agreement; it was clear that Ash and May were very close, since they had known each other since they met back when they were babies. She then showed an expression of dismay as she looked back at Caroline.

"It's a shame you and May are moving to Petalburg City tomorrow. Does May know about it?" Delia asked. Caroline simply nodded in agreement and looked down as an expression of sadness crossed her arms; she still remembered how May reacted when she told the little girl about the move last night...

 _May was up in her room as she had changed into her pink night dress ready to get to bed, as she was looking forward to playing with Ash tomorrow. As she was busy brushing her hair with her small hairbrush, Caroline slowly walked over and poked her head through the doorway to see May happily humming to herself as she was brushing her hair, looking forward to tomorrow. Caroline then let out a silent sigh; she had a feeling that this wouldn't be easy to tell May, but she knew that she had to tell her daughter about this. So with this, she slowly stepped into the bedroom. "May?" Caroline asked. May turned her head to see Caroline behind her and quickly showed a bright smile._

" _Hi, Mum! Have you come to say goodnight?" May asked. Caroline looked down with an expression of worry, trying to think about how to break this news to May gently, to which May showed an expression of concern noticing that her mum looked upset. "What's wrong, Mum?" she asked. Caroline then let out a soft sigh before turning her glance to May._

" _May...I need to talk to you about something." Caroline asked. May showed an expression of puzzlement and tilted her head slightly, as she started to wonder what her mum had to say to her. After a few seconds to think about what it could be, May quickly showed an expression of worry. "I'm not in trouble, am I, Mum?" May asked. Caroline slowly shook her head; that wasn't the case at all._

" _No, not at all. I just need to tell you something." Caroline replied. May showed a smile of relief learning that she wasn't in trouble at all, and then she nodded in understanding to listen to what her mum had to say. Caroline showed a small smile seeing May ready to hear this; it made having to say this feel a bit easier for her, but she still had a feeling that May wouldn't take this well. "You see, May...you know how your father works at the Petalburg City Gym in Hoenn?" Caroline asked. May showed a bright smile and nodded in agreement; she knew that her dad was the Gym Leader there because of what Caroline had told her._

" _Well... we need to move back to Hoenn in a few days." Caroline simply stated. May quickly showed an expression of surprise as she was trying to register what Caroline just said. "And that means...we have to say goodbye to Ash and Delia as well." Caroline added. May let out a silent gasp hearing this: she had to leave Ash behind? She and Ash were very close; there was no way she could be hearing this. She then looked down and started to shake her head, not wanting to believe this. Caroline showed an expression of worry as she saw that May was starting to become upset about this, so she bent down and gently placed her hands on May's shoulders. "May, I know this is hard for you to hear, but..." Before Caroline could have a chance to continue, May quickly pulled herself away which caused Caroline's hands to let go of her shoulders as tears started to build in her eyes._

" _No...I don't believe this. Will Ash and Mrs Ketchum at least get to visit us once in a while?" May asked. Caroline looked down in silence before she slowly shook her head. "I don't know, sweetheart. But I'm sure you and Ash will see each other again soon." Caroline gently replied, showing a small smile to try and ease May's sadness. However, her efforts didn't seem to be successful as she could see that May's eyes were filling with tears and she placed her head in her hands as she started to cry, realising that she had to say goodbye to her closest friend. "Oh, May, it's all right. You don't need to cry." Caroline softly said, as she wrapped her arms around May to bring her into a hug to try and help her feel better._

" _But...why? Why do we need to leave? I like being here in Pallet Town." May sadly explained, trying to hold back her sobs as tears streamed down her face. "I do too, May. But the only time that your dad got to see you was when you were a baby before we moved here. I think he would really happy if he got to see you again." Caroline explained. May slowly lifted her head up to see Caroline looking down at her with a gentle smile and then she slowly started to brush her tears away from her eyes before looking back up at her mum. "It will be all right. I'm sure that you and Ash will get to see each other again soon." Caroline simply said. May showed a small smile and nodded; she was hoping that Caroline would be right about that._

" _Okay, Mum...thank you." May simply replied. Caroline showed a bright smile seeing that May was making an effort to take this news well before she stood up and started to make her way out of the room. "Goodnight, Mum." May said._

" _Goodnight, May. I'm happy to hear you're giving this a chance." Caroline replied, turning her glance back to May. May nodded in agreement before Caroline stepped out of the room which allowed May to close the door behind her. Once Caroline was out of the room, May slowly looked down to the floor with tears building up in her eyes again; now that she had taken a few seconds to let what she had just heard sink in, she suddenly realised what that meant. She would have to leave Ash behind for who knew how long, and she didn't even know when she would get to see him again. She then ran over to her bed and collapsed onto it, burying her face into her pillow as she started to sob, letting out her emotions about the move she would soon be making._

" _Why? Why do I need to leave Ash? I loved being here in Pallet Town as well... I don't want to leave..." May sadly asked herself before she started to sob again, burying her face into her pillow again as her tears stained the pillow. With Caroline, she could hear May sobbing from inside her room and looked down with an expression of sadness; she had a feeling that May would take the news harder than she thought..._

Caroline looked down at the table with an expression of sadness as she remembered what happened last night; she had a feeling that May wouldn't take the news well at all, and it wasn't any easier for her to tell her either. Delia showed an expression seeing how upset Caroline was and then simply showed a soft smile. "Don't worry, Caroline. I'm sure that Ash and May will get a chance to see each other again." Delia said. Caroline turned her glance up in surprise to see Delia's gentle smile and then she couldn't help showing a small smile back and simply nodded once in agreement, before she turned her head to look out the window and notice Ash and May happily playing together; she wasn't looking forward to when she and May would have to leave Pallet Town, and Kanto, behind tomorrow.

Outside with Ash and May, Ash was running across the field and he looked around to see if he could figure out where May was hiding. "Where are you, May? I know you're around here somewhere." Ash called. As he was looking around, he didn't notice that May was hiding, leaning against the wall of his house. After a few seconds, Ash turned his head and a big smile crossed his face as he saw that he had found where May was hiding. "There you are!" Ash cheerfully called, waving to May to let her know that he had found her. But much to his surprise, May didn't answer; instead, he noticed that May slowly sat down on the grass with an expression of sadness on her face as she placed her chin on her legs and wrapped her arms around them. Ash showed an expression of concern seeing this and walked over to sit down next to May. "What's the matter, May? You were having a lot of fun just a second ago." Ash commented. May turned her glance up to Ash seeing him looking at her in concern and then let out a soft sigh; this wasn't going to be easy for her to say.

"Ash... there's something I need to tell you." May said. Ash simply scooted closer to May and nodded for her to continue. Once May saw that Ash was paying her his undivided attention, she turned her glance up to him. "Mum talked to me last night and she said that... we're going to move back to Petalburg City." May explained. Ash showed an expression of alarm hearing this; he hadn't heard his mum say anything about this, so this came as a real shock to him.

"When did your mum say you would be leaving?" Ash asked. "She said it would be in a few days, so I think that... we'll be leaving tomorrow." May softly replied, her voice slowly dropping to a whisper at the end of that sentence. She could feel tears slowly building in her eyes as she remembered how she felt about this, and then she started to brush them away as Ash showed an expression of concern and wrapped his arm around her seeing that she was upset. "But... I don't want to leave. I like being here in Pallet Town, and I like having fun and playing with you, Ash. I like it when we spend time together and I don't know what will happen during the time we're apart. And... I don't know when we'll get to see each other again." May continued as tears streamed down her face; this was something she wasn't sure she'd be able to handle.

Ash simply stared in silence as he looked down to think about this, and he could tell that May was visibly upset by this. He then looked back up at May as she rested her head against his chin and that allowed him to have both his arms around her to give her a comforting hug. "May... how come you didn't say anything about this before?" Ash softly asked; he didn't want to be nasty to May, he just wanted to do what he could to help her since he noticed that she was feeling very upset about the fact that she would have to leave. May turned her head up to Ash and brushed her tears away before she spoke.

"I'm sorry, Ash. I know I should have told you before, but I wasn't sure of what you were going to say about it. I was scared that you didn't want to spend any more time with me since you would have known that I would be leaving. I wanted to spend the time I had left here with you, and I wanted the both of us to be happy having spent so much time together so we would have something to remember each other by after we said goodbye. But...you're right; I should have said something before." May replied, slowly turning her glance down in sadness as she was feeling regret about having not said anything about any of this to Ash earlier; she knew that she would have been able to tell him anything, but that was something she didn't do. "I won't be upset with you if you're angry at me; I would be upset with myself too." May then added as she closed her eyes waiting to hear what Ash would say to her having kept this from him. There was silence for a few seconds before May slowly opened her eyes and looked up at Ash to find that he didn't look angry with her at all; he was simply showing an understanding smile.

"It's all right, May. I know why you didn't tell me about this before. You were thinking about how I would feel about it and thought it would be best to make the most out of the time we had before you would have to leave. To me, that's really all that should matter." Ash replied. May stared in surprise for a few seconds before a bright smile crossed her face and then she wrapped her arms around Ash as the two sat alone on the grass in a matching hug; they didn't want to let go because they wanted to be sure they were making the most of the time they would have left to spend time together.

That night, Ash was up in his room and he was lying on his bed thinking about the fact that May was going to be leaving tomorrow. After a few seconds, a bright smile came to his face as he had an idea; there was something he wanted to do for May before she left. At that moment, Ash turned his head as he heard his bedroom door open and noticed Delia coming into the room. "Ash, are you ready to say goodnight?" Delia asked. Ash immediately sat up on his bed as Delia stepped inside.

"Mum, I have something I want to ask you." Ash said. Delia showed an expression of surprise and then a smile returned to her face before she nodded. With this, she walked over and sat down on the bed next to Ash, wanting to know what Ash wanted to ask her. "Mum, I know that May is going to be heading to Petalburg City tomorrow morning and I was wondering... do you think it's all right if we get May a gift before she leaves?" Ash asked. Delia was silent as she took a few seconds to think about that idea, before she immediately showed a big smile and nodded.

"I think that's a wonderful idea! Then you and May will have something to look at and think of each other no matter how far away you may be. Come on, let's see what we can find." Delia replied. Ash nodded in agreement and with that, the two made their way downstairs to start looking at some ideas of what to get May.

In the kitchen, Ash and Delia sat at the table with Delia having opened up a book on the shopping department at Celadon City to see what they could find; the department also had a shipping option to transfer any goods to what location needed it. "Let's see... what can we find that May might like? I noticed some nice charms on the floor where they have clothes and jewellery; maybe May might like something like that." Delia suggested, showing Ash the page so he could have a look for himself: he could see that there were different types of necklaces, bracelets, rings, earrings as well as other accessories such as bracelet charms. As Ash had a look down the list to see what there was that he could find, there was one particular item that caught his attention: it was a silver ring with a gold heart at the front along with a diamond in the centre of the heart, and black writing on the back of the ring that said 'A promise is forever'. A big smile slowly crossed Ash's face as he looked at the ring; he had a feeling that he found just the thing he was looking for.

"Look at this, Mum!" Ash said, turning to the book to Delia and pointing at the ring he had spotted so she could have a see for herself. Delia looked down at the page in surprise before she noticed what Ash was pointing at.

"A promise ring... you really think May will like it?" Delia asked, turning her head up to Ash. Ash simply nodded with a big smile. "Yeah, I think she will! I'll make a promise to May that one day, we'll get to see each other again." Ash replied. Delia looked down at the ring in silence for a few seconds before she showed a bright smile and nodded.

"All right then, I'll call the Celadon Department and let them know exactly what you want." Delia said. Picking up the book, she walked over to the phone nearby, keeping the page open so she could remember what to order, and dialled the number of the Celadon Department that was printed on the bottom of the first page. Once that was done, Delia waited for a few seconds before a voice came on the other end of the phone.

"Hello, and welcome to Celadon Department. How can I help you this evening?" The voice asked on the phone; it was a young woman. Delia showed a bright smile hearing that she had an answer and looked down at the page to spot the ring that Ash had pointed out.

"I would like to place a delivery order to Pallet Town. I'm looking for Item #4308: a promise ring. The house number is 101, and delivery recipient name is Delia Ketchum." Delia explained. There was silence as Delia listened to what the young woman had to say, before she showed a bright smile and nodded in understanding. "Yes, thank you! That's good to know. Thank you!" Delia said. She then placed the phone back on the counter and turned her head to Ash, who was wondering what they said. "They said that the ring should be here at our doorstep tomorrow morning, so we'll have plenty of time to give it to May." Delia explained. A big smile immediately crossed Ash's face hearing this, and then he climbed out of his chair and ran over to hug Delia.

"That's great! Thanks, Mum!" Ash happily replied. Delia couldn't help herself simply showing a bright smile, seeing how thrilled Ash was to hear that his gift for May would be on its way very soon.

The next morning, Delia was sound asleep in her room when she heard a knock on the front door downstairs. Opening her eyes, Delia got out of her bed and made her way downstairs before opening the front door to see a man holding a small brown package along with a clipboard in his hand. "Is this the Ketchum residence? I have a delivery for a promise ring, and I just need a signature here." The man said. Delia simply nodded in agreement to let him know he had the right house.

"Yes, this is the house. I'm Delia Ketchum." Delia replied, as she picked up the pen included with the clipboard to write her signature at the bottom of the paper. Once that was taken care of, Delia picked up the brown package and headed back inside the house, closing the door behind her and making her way over to the kitchen table, and then she turned to see Ash making his way downstairs. "Good morning, Ash! Our delivery for our promise ring just arrived." Delia said. With this, she opened the brown package by the front flaps to reveal a small square-shaped light purple box sitting in it, and then she slowly opened it to reveal the silver promise ring sitting in the middle, held there by a small hole. "Isn't it just lovely? I just know that May will be thrilled when you give this to her." Delia commented, placing the box down on the table for Ash to have a look at the ring for himself, showing a big smile in the process.

"Wow, it looks great! Do we have something to wrap it up with?" Ash asked. Delia walked over to the cupboards to have a look at what there was. After a few seconds of rummaging, Delia turned around to show that she was holding a long purple thread in her hand. "Well, I couldn't find any wrapping paper, but I was able to find this." Delia replied, showing the thread to Ash. She then walked back over to the table, as Ash placed the lid back on the box, and placed the thread on the bottom of the box before wrapping it around the box and tying it up in the shape of a bow.

"There we go! Now we just need to find May and give this to her." Delia commented, handing the box to Ash so he could give May his gift himself. Just then, the two looked outside to see that the moving truck had arrived to pick up May and Caroline "It looks like the moving truck just got here. We better get a move on if we don't want to miss them." Delia said. Ash nodded in agreement and with that, the two made their way to the front door to head outside.

Outside, May and Caroline were matching as the moving Machoke had just finished placing the last of their items in the back of the truck. "Well, I guess that's everything. It's just too bad Ash and Delia couldn't see us before we had to go." Caroline commented, looking down to May to see that she was looking down with an expression of sadness; she really wanted to say goodbye to Ash before they left. Caroline could see that May was looking upset, so she bent down so she was face to face with her daughter. "It's all right, May. You got to tell Ash that we were leaving yesterday, right? So I'm sure that he knows." Caroline said. May turned her glance up to her mother and nodded slowly, but she couldn't help herself feeling sad that Ash wouldn't be able to make it to see her off.

"May! Mrs Maple!" Upon hearing that voice, May and Caroline both turned their heads to see Ash and Delia walking over to them. May immediately showed a big smile seeing that Ash was here and ran over to him.

"Good morning, Delia. I was starting to worry that we wouldn't get to see you before we left." Caroline commented. Delia simply showed a bright smile, knowing that she didn't want to miss out on saying goodbye to May and Caroline before they were due to head off. With this, Caroline turned her glance down to Ash. "Ash, it was really nice seeing you and May spend a lot of time together, and I've also enjoyed when you and Delia would come to visit us. Make sure to take care of yourself and Delia; I have a feeling you'll grow up to be a wonderful man in the future." Caroline said. Ash simply nodded in agreement, as if to say that he would keep that in mind. He then turned his glance back to May to notice that she was looking at the box he was holding with an expression of surprise.

"What's this, Ash?" May asked. "It's just something I wanted to give you before you go. Mum helped me with choosing it." Ash replied. He then handed the box to May, who unwrapped the bow on it and then lifted the lid off to see the silver promise ring sitting in the middle of the box. May stared at the ring in awe before she picked it up from the box with a bright smile crossing her face.

"Ash... it's really lovely. What is it?" May asked, turning her glance to Ash. "Do you like it? It's a promise ring." Ash replied. May then looked back down at the ring, noticing the gold heart in the centre along the jewel in the middle of the heart and then she looked back up at Ash with a big smile on her face.

"I love it, Ash. Thank you so much." May happily said. However, she was then met with a surprise as Ash grabbed the ring from her and she stared at him with an expression of surprise, wondering what he was doing before she saw him looking at her with a bright smile.

"May, I want to make a promise to you. I promise that even though that we may be far away and we won't know when we'll see each other again, I'll find you. And with this ring, I want you to know that I plan to keep this promise, no matter how long it takes me to do that." Ash said, before he placed his hand underneath May's and he lifted it up before he slipped the ring on May's middle finger. May then looked at the ring on her finger in awe before she turned her glance to Ash slowly showing a bright smile.

"Ash... I know that you'll be able to keep it. I don't know how long it will be, though, but I'm sure you will." May replied. After a few seconds, she then threw her arms around Ash in a tight embrace, which he quickly reciprocated. Delia and Caroline both looked down at their children with matching bright smiles before they both looked up at each other.

"Well, Delia, I guess this is where we need to say goodbye. Do you think we'll get to see each other again sometime?" Caroline asked. Delia showed a bright smile before she nodded. "Yeah, I think so. I'll try to make sure to keep in touch with you and let you know how Ash is doing. I would love to hear about May as well; I can't wait to hear about how she's doing growing up!" Delia replied. Caroline nodded in confirmation and then she looked down at May who was still hugging Ash.

"Are you ready to go, May?" Caroline asked. May turned her head up to Caroline and nodded in agreement, so Caroline started to walk over to the moving truck to get in the front seat while May turned her glance back to Ash as the two both let go from their hug.

"Well... I'll see you later, Ash. I hope we get to see each other again soon." May said. Ash simply nodded in agreement with the smile on his face remaining unaltered. "Yeah, I hope so. Just don't forget, May; if there's ever a point where you're feeling alone, you can look at that ring and think of me. And just remember: when promises are made, they're meant to be kept!" Ash explained, winking at May with confidence that he would be able to keep the promise he made.

May nodded in agreement and then she turned and ran over to the moving truck, climbing into the front seat with Caroline and looking out the window to see Ash and Delia waving goodbye to them. "See you later, Ash! And Mrs Ketchum, thank you for letting me come to visit you!" May called, as she and Caroline both waved back.

"You're welcome, May! Take care of yourself!" Delia replied. "See you, May! I'll make sure to keep my promise; you can be sure of that!" Ash added.

With this, the moving truck started up and started to drive down the road. As the truck made its way down the road, May kept her glance out the window to see Ash waving to her as he got further away from her sight. Once they were a fair distance from Pallet Town, May sat back on the seat and looked down at her promise ring: it would be her reminder of Ash, and she felt certain that he would be able to keep his promise to find her, no matter how long it would take to see that day happen.


End file.
